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355:1 -- Seeking the dragon treaty
Summary The party travelled to a location where a great dragon presence had been detected. They were armed with the knowledge that it was possible on subduing a dragon, to ensure its service for a year and day but hoped to come to some alliance with the dragons without resorting to this. In addition to an avatar of the dragon god, there were dozens of dozens of dragons present, including baby dragons. The party destroyed a shadow envoy and arranged terms with the dragons to live in peace and ally against the shadows. Zendri also bested a dragon in single combat, which Zendri then instructed to reside at his cottage outside Whitmouth. The Treaty In brief the treaty involved the following: * Dragons will now be considered citizens of Whitmouth. * Murdering a dragon carries the penalty of death. * Those who desecrate or continue to desecrate the bodies of dead dragons (this includes wearing dragon armour) shall be at the mercy of the dragons. * The dragons shall ally with us against the Shadows and send forces to aid us when we attack the Shadow Citadel. (Note that the dragons are capable of taking perfect human form and have in fact been in Whitmouth before). Asha's Report Zendri, Elanthiir Miller, Menoliir, a young Wizard whose name shall be kept off the record, and I answered the Governor’s request for the dragons to somehow be brought to our side in the war against the shadows. While the Governor seemed to think we would have to force the dragons to join us by defeating their leader, we decided to take a more diplomatic route. We flew to the mountains in the South, which are completely covered in ice, and landed in the forest below the foothills. It took us a couple more days to walk to the base of the mountains, where we found some caves. They seemed to be the best chance to find some dragons… and it didn't take us long to find one. As soon as Zendri lit a torch we saw a huge dragon perched in the tunnel, watching us. However, it agreed to lead us to a dragon we could negotiate with after the Wizard gave it a pretty rock. It led us to a cavern where there were many, many dragons in a negotiation with a group of Shadows. Menoliir destroyed them, but failed to keep control of the elements. I think the dragons found this more amusing than anything else, though. Eventually the dragons agreed to side with Whitmouth against the Shadows, and aid in the upcoming assault we are planning for this winter, if we promised to stop killing dragons and make the penalty for murdering a dragon death. They also required us to return our dragon-hide armour, which I did willingly. Zendri required more convincing, demanding to duel a dragon which he seemed to have met before. The dragon agreed, and they had a sort of spectacular mid-air fight. I foolishly lent Zendri Sura’s Icewall Orb for the fight to defend him against the fire, but he took the first opportunity to throw it in the dragon’s mouth. The Wizard managed to teleport it back out of the dragons’ stomach, but it was all covered in dragon goop. Sura is going to kill me… Eventually Zendri won the battle and gave up his dragon-hide armour, and we were allowed to leave in peace. I think the dragon is bound to obey Zendri for a year and a day now. I hope he treats it well, because its parents may come looking for him if he doesn't. On our way back to Whitmouth we were attacked by a group of shadows. We dispatched them quite easily, but then had to face a wolf pack called by Menoliir. I hate dogs! But the wolves weren't really all that scary, and we also dispatched them with ease. We returned to Whitmouth and received a small reward for our efforts from the governor. I hope that the Governor will choose to agree to the dragons’ terms for the alliance. Zendri's Report Zendri has taken a short break from his trips out of town to sit for a drink in the Wyvern’s Rest, winding down from his adventure. He explains to a crowd of onlookers for what seems the eleventh or twelfth time why a Dragon now hunts and flies so close to Whitmouth in the day, unhampered by the aerial patrols. "So really, Asha’s account is reasonably good and details everything we did that day. We were to visit the Avatar of the Dragon-god, and either subdue it, or in our case, negotiate with it. We headed down to their mountain home. Now I may be a thrill-seeker, but even I know when trouble is brewing, and I wasn’t prepared to leave without the Dragons on our side against the Shadow – be it through friendship or fealty. We did succeed, and negotiations went reasonably well. I think I might have annoyed my companions with some of my harsh, but ultimately true words. It was very smooth right up until the point where Asha and I were expected to relinquish our Dragonhide armour and return it to the Avatar. There wasn’t a chance in any of the hells I was going to relinquish any of my trophies without something in return. I made a bargain – I would duel Alaktar for his honor. In return, I would relinquish my armour, dead or alive. The only condition beyond that was that he could try to kill me, but I would not kill him – Ha! My companions seemed to think I had doomed myself. I am ever grateful to Asha, who lent me the Icewall orb. I don’t think he was impressed with how I used it. His opening move was typical, a fireball. I dodged, sprinting into cover to avoid a second which melted the rock formation I had jumped behind. After closing the distance further, I narrowly avoided his claw and grabbed on. This was when he took flight. He flew, I climbed closer to where I needed to be. Without my dragon-slaying sword, there were only a handful of vital weak points I might be able to hit. Just as I had come to its shoulder, Alaktar went into a dive towards the ground. I climbed a bit further, finally closing towards its face, when he pulled up and rolled over – leaving me with my back to the ground as he flew upside down! I pulled myself close and tight, attempting first of all to gouge his eyeballs. I had a small hope that this would work, but there was no luck. The tricky bastard then let loose a fireball which ran backward across the ground toward me. Luckily, it only singed my armour. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the Icewall Orb from my kit and lobbed it into its open mouth. That did the trick. It hacked and coughed, something I've not seen before from a dragon, and started pulling up. I pulled myself around onto the underside of its neck as it gained height, and summoned all of my strength to wrench open its jaw. I pulled Ardramoor from its sheath and drove it, perhaps a little too hard, into the roof of the dragon’s mouth. Blood spilled out as I pulled the blade free, and I knew I had hit my mark. All it took then was a few words – "Submit to me – or the next one is going to kill you!" Alaktar landed and admitted defeat. With a little help from our un-named spellcaster, the Orb was able to be retrieved from his stomach. That, friends, is why a Dragon now dwells around Whitmouth! Who’s buying the next round?" Wednesday’s "Report" Miller is a fantastic cook! I tell you, I thought that the worst thing about adventuring was going to be eating those horrible biscuit things that are "fully nutritious" but I fully advise you to take miller along on adventurers as his prior profession as a chef sure pays off. Zendri can also slam his shield into the ground and summon a tower to sleep in, so take him too. I’m not too sure about druids though. I think adventurers have a bad rap, no one has tried to rob or hurt me yet, although I do notice a troubling pattern beginning to emerge regarding fighters and incredibly suicidal tendencies, so maybe that’s what she was talking about. Zendri! Zendri duelled a dragon one vs one. It was epic! I was convinced that he was going to die, but he pulled it off, holding on to the dragon like a monkey, not getting splattered on the ground like a rat under a carriage wheel and stabbing the creature in the head without killing it! The druid flambéed the shadow envoy and the dragons sided with us against the shadows, though their father figure is pretty scary and nearly incinerated Zendri alive (Zendri gave up his armour just in time). Anyone could be a dragon! Some of them are really good at human forms. Oh and baby dragons are adorable and despite what Zendri says you can be an adventurer without wanting to touch disgusting dead things. The shadows were considerate in that they didn't leave any bodies, though not considered enough to stage their ambush until after we had finished singing the third chorus. Category:Actual Play Category:Dragon Category:Shadows